little bundles

little bundles  2014
Cotton, thread, hemlock twigs 
74 individual units, variety of sizes  (all can be held in your hand) 

bandaging, wrapping, shrouding, accumulation, repetition, doll-figures, ritual chant, hand touch, body gesture, the protection tradition of red thread

The process of wrapping is healing.  Inside each of the 74 bundles are four hemlock twigs collected and wrapped in 2011.  (see here) 

exhibition record:
The little bundles are an important component of Judy Martin's feel better installation.   The photos above show the installation in POP FOLK TEXTILES, la Galerie du Nouvel Ontario, Sudbury, Ontario March 21- April 18 2015  (curator Sophie LeBlanc)

POP FOLK TEXTILES will also be exhibited in Toronto June 26-August 9 at the Campbell House Museum, 160 Queen Street.   Sponsored by Le Labo Gallery (586 Richmond St W)

Not To Know But To Go On

     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
    Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013 
    66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
    Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                       Photo:  Klaus Rossler
    Part of the Mended World exhibition

     Not To Know But To Go On, 2013
     Installation Thunder Bay Art Gallery, September 13-October 27 2013
     full view on 50 foot wall, part of Mended World exhibition
     66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d
     Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape
    Technique: couching by hand.                                        Photo:  Klaus Rossler

      Not To Know But To Go On, 2013

Installation Art Gallery of Sudbury, January 19 – March 2, 2014  (detail)

66.75 metres h x 35.5 cm w x 1 cm d

Materials: artist canvas, found fabrics, cotton embroidery floss, cotton tape

Technique: couching by hand.                                               Photo:  Judy Martin

Included in the Mended World exhibition

Not to Know But To Go On is based on the private, daily ritual of writing a diary.  It also
refers to the Finnish rag rugs of Judy Martin's cultural heritage, but is stitched, not woven. 

For exactly three years the artist maintained a daily practice of couching strips of found 
fabric to canvas with one complete skein of cotton embroidery floss.  Because we do not 
know what each day will bring, the day’s thread was selected with eyes closed. Over one
thousand days were thus lived through and marked. 

Not just memories, but dreams and plans for the future are held within the work, and not just from that day when it was created, but also new ones. The combination of simplicity and subtle human touch transports us into an inner world of dream and self-knowledge.

Exhibition record

This piece is an important part of the Mended World exhibition.  This exhibition has been mounted in three public art galleries in Ontario, Canada. 
Thunder Bay Art Gallery:  September 13 - October 27, 2013

Art Gallery of Sudbury.  January 19 - March 2, 2014

As well, Not To Know But To Go On was exhibited as a solo exhibition as part of the 
World of Threads festival, Oakville Ontario :  November 1 - November 30, 2014.  The World of Threads installation was from the ceiling - shown below.

Not To Know But To Go On was most recently exhibited July 12 - August 9 2018 at the Mary E Black Gallery in Halifax Nova Scotia as part of the exhibition Cloth of Time, a Two person exhibition with Penny Berens and Judy Martin.  For that exhibition, it hung in the centre of the gallery space, from the ceiling.  

There is a poem-booklet entitled Not To Know But To Go On available from the artist.

In 2019- 2023 Not To Know But To Go On toured the USA in the SAQA organized exhibition, 3-D Expressions.  The works in this exhibition were selected by Bruce Hoffman.  Venues included:  

pioneer babies

Pioneer  Babies, vintage domestic linens wrapped and then stitched around cut spring branches to make bundles

all have been embroidered with red silk thread

 some are wrapped with cotton tape

sizes variable,  8 inches in height to 16 inches in height.  Five shown (eight have been made)
most are filled with flowering pussy willow or forsythia branches

One has been exhibited. The one on the extreme right was reworked and included in the Lucky Protection exhibit, Feb 1 - 28 2014, (solo) at The Northern Artist Gallery (organized by Artists on Elgin) in Sudbury, Ontario.